[ix:5] Malone's _Shakespeare_ (by Boswell), iii. 490--Yet the name _William Kemp_ appears to have been not uncommon; for Chalmers (_ubi supra_) mentions that he found "in the parish register of St. Bartholomew the Less, the marriage of William Kempe unto Annis Howard, on the 10th of February, 1605-6;" and I shall presently shew that another individual so called has been confounded with the actor. [x:1] It was probably written about 1602,--certainly before the death of Queen Elizabeth. [xi:1] George Chalmers, who cites the present passage, observes, that Kemp "was as illiterate, probably, as he was certainly jocose. The Cambridge scholars laughed at his _gross illiterature_." Malone's _Shakespeare_ (by Boswell), iii. 491. What folly to take the measure of Kemp's acquirements from such a scene as this! He may have had no classical learning; but assuredly, as the _Nine daies wonder_ shews, he was not grossly illiterate. [xi:2] i. e. ay. [xi:3] An allusion to B. Jonson's _Poetaster_, _Works_, ii. 525, _seq._ ed. Gifford: the words "Shakespeare hath given him a purge," &c. have occasioned considerable discussion; see Gifford's _Memoirs of Jonson_, p. lx. and p. cclv. [xi:4] i. e. hindrances. [xi:5] See note p. ix. [xii:1] i. e. St. Leger's Round, an old country dance. [xii:2] Terms used in the Buttery Books at the universities: see Minsheu in v. v. _Size_ and _Cue_. [xii:3] An allusion to Dekker's _Satiromastix, or The Vntrussing of the Humorous Poet_. [xii:4] A character in Kyd's _Spanish Tragedy_. The speech here given by Studioso from that celebrated piece (and which Burbage of course ought previously to recite), begins in the earlier 4tos. "_What outcries pluck me_ from _my_ naked bed;" and in the later-- "_What outcry calls_," &c. See Dodsley's _Old Plays_, iii. 130, last ed. [xii:5] From this passage it has been conjectured that Kemp acted Justice Shallow. [xiii:1] Sigs. G. 2, 3. [xiv:1] Their names are attached to the Dedication. [xiv:2] It must have been produced, however, at an earlier date. It is not divided into Acts.